1916 and all that

I'm not sure I understand what it is about 1916 that Pat Lynch (Jan 9) wants us to celebrate during its centenary in 2016, given how he disagrees so much with Kevin Myers and those Irish among us, born, bred and raised in Ireland, who don't worship at the alter of the false republicanism.

I'm not sure I understand what it is about 1916 that Pat Lynch (Jan 9) wants us to celebrate during its centenary in 2016, given how he disagrees so much with Kevin Myers and those Irish among us, born, bred and raised in Ireland, who don't worship at the alter of the false republicanism.

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1916 and all that

Independent.ie

I'm not sure I understand what it is about 1916 that Pat Lynch (Jan 9) wants us to celebrate during its centenary in 2016, given how he disagrees so much with Kevin Myers and those Irish among us, born, bred and raised in Ireland, who don't worship at the alter of the false republicanism.

It's all very well deluding yourself that there was ever one united island of Ireland and that we've been trying for 800 years to get back to that. But what were the aims of 1916 and did it achieve any of them? Mr Lynch mentions the UK, US and French commemorations, but those events relate to the successes.

However, in the Irish context, no matter what side of the argument you are on, 1916 was an abject failure. To this day, its purported goal of an all-island republic has not been fulfilled, and because of the legacy of the events unleashed by 1916, that goal will never be fulfilled.

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